Pizza update and the best movie EVER...

It's bittersweet to remember the days when sleepovers with my best friend were a regular thing. Fact: our relationship is better than ever and we have the added advantage of seeing each other daily at our shared office. Fact: the reason(s) for fewer sleepovers are good reasons (like significant others, a cat named Fiona, a dog named Potato, and all the responsibilities that come with growing up). Fact: neither previous 'fact' can totally overcome my sense of loss (particularly since yet-to-be-determined factors on the road ahead -jobs and moves and babies - will make girls' nights with Beth fewer and further between.)

But that's life, and that's okay, and Friday night was good, clean fun.

To begin: the pizzas. Now, I have to admit up-front that the dough was not homemade. Friday night is not an ideal time to try your hand at pizza dough, in my opinion. But it was at least purchased in dough form, which is still world's away from most oven-ready pizza crusts. Not that there's anything wrong with ready-made crusts; they certainly help you avoid situations like finding yourself flinging a sticky, baguette-shaped, hole-filled rope of dough through the air...Admittedly the first crust didn't go quite as hoped, but thanks to Beth's ingenious "place on pan and squish into a circle" approach, we managed. The second crust worked like a charm.

The main focus of this meal was to use up an absurd amount of produce as quickly and creatively as possible. In order to have a no-male-zone without kicking our respective significant others out of our respective houses, our girls' night took place at my mom's house...just like old times! My mom's refrigerator was stuffed-to-bursting full of produce from Farm Fresh To You (a birthday gift I thought would be appropriate for a work-a-holic mother who can't always make time for the market). She had just rec her first box, filled with locally grown kale, potatoes, lettuce, leeks, carrots, a butternut squash, and - surprisingly - kiwi! Beth brought onion, green onion, cilantro, pine nuts and a yummy spicy peanut sauce. I brought the dough, the cheese, some frisee, and finally, the Lions' Mane mushrooms!



We chose two themes, and divided the ingredients accordingly: Pizza #1 was a fungi pizza with hearty, earthy fixings and goat cheese. Pizza #2 was a Thai-ish style pie with bright zippy veggies and a peanut sauce that packed a punch! Both turned out gorgeous, and both were nummy. As was the on-screen eye-candy. Cary Grant... Mmmmm. Jimmy Stewart...Siiiiigh. Katherine Hepburn in a flawless white gown-of-a-swimsuit-cover-up. Double-siiiiiiigh. If you haven't seen The Philadelphia Story, you need to. Not only does it have fabulous, funny and heartfelt performances and a great story/script, it also has the best and most endearing 'drunk' performance in the history of movie-dom, performed by Mr. Jimmy Stewart (and which earned him an Oscar, I might add!)



As Beth said - matter-of-factly after it was over - "That was the best movie. Ever."




Pizza #1: Funghi

1 ball of pizza dough
1-2 cups Lion's Mane or other assorted mild-flavor mushrooms
1/2 cups thinly sliced white or yellow onion
2 TB pine nuts
2-3 pieces thinly sliced prosciutto, pulled apart into bite-sized shreds
1 - 1.5 cups grated fontina or mozzarella cheese
2 -3 TB goat cheese
1/2 cup frisee greens, pulled into bite sized leaves and tossed w/ a little olive oil and salt
1 tsp olive oil
salt and pepper

Preheat oven as directed per the dough (ours was 450 degrees).

On floured work surface, stretch, roll and toss dough until a fairly uniform roundish shape is formed, about 18 in across.

Place on oiled baking sheet. Brush dough lightly with olive oil. Sprinkle grated cheese over surface. Then sprinkle on the onions, prosciutto, goat cheese, pine nuts and frisee, in that order. Season with salt and pepper, bake for about 15 minutes (or as directed by package).





Pizza #2: Thai Peanut

1 ball of pizza dough
1/4 cup thinly sliced carrots
1/4 cup chopped green onion, white and green parts
2-3 TB Peanut sauce (spicy is good!)
1 - 1.5 cups grated fontina or mozzarella cheese
2-3 TB chopped fresh cilantro
1 tsp olive oil
salt and pepper
1 avocado, thinly sliced
cilantro for garnish

Follow directions for Pizza #1. Once dough is ready on the pan, smear with peanut sauce. Sprinkle layer of cheese, then carrots, green onions and 1/2 of the cilantro. Sprinkle with the rest of the cheese and cilantro, season with salt and pepper, and bake as directed.

Garnish with cilantro and avocado, as desired.

Happy Eating!